Seniors Compete In Pageant

63-year-old Wins Statewide Contest

ENFIELD — With a mischievous wink to the crowd, 67-year-old Rosemary Morello twirled a feather boa and batted out a racy rendition of ``Some One of These Days.''

Not to be outdone, 77-year-old Adele Mills -- a grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of one -- gave the judges a grin before tap- dancing her way through ``Great Balls of Fire.''

With the 1998 Ms. Senior Connecticut title on the line Friday night, a bit of flamboyance was probably to be expected. Especially during the talent presentation.

Ultimately, the youngest contestant, 63-year-old Laura Palmer of East Windsor, seemed to win the loudest applause from the audience in Asnuntuck Community-Technical College's auditorium with her version of ``It's a Grand Night for Singing.'' An hour later, Palmer was crowned Ms. Senior Connecticut.

Earlier in the evening, before the seven contestants modeled formal evening gowns and gave brief insights into their philosophies of life, they took the stage to show off their skills at singing, poetry reading, dancing and more.

Stella Lichanec, 73, read a story she had written about her three grown daughters, and 64-year-old Doris Judd performed a skit showcasing a half-dozen fashion designs that she could quickly create around a basic black dress. Helena Wapiennik, 73, read William Wordsworth's ``Perfect Women.''

Bella Sheets, 67, sang ``Enjoy Yourself,'' and its words, ``Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think; Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink,'' went over big with the scores of senior citizens in the crowd.

Pageant founder and emcee Kay Tallarita described the evening as a chance for senior citizens to ``show their inner beauty and talent and elegance, and a way to motivate women to use their full potential.''

Mary Helen Broach of Enfield, who won the title 12 years ago at age 62, agreed. After winning at the state level, Broach went on to perform aerobics to ``Flashdance'' at the national competition in Atlantic City before a crowd of 4,000.

``My daughter couldn't believe it. I really hadn't been on stage before in my life,'' Broach said backstage Friday night. ``It gave me a lot of inner courage. It's something that takes you out of the doldrums.''